Two teams that have combined for two wins in their past 31 games will clash when the Charlotte Hornets visit the Washington Wizards Thursday night.
The Hornets have lost 10 of their past 11 games. On the plus side, they got back star LaMelo Ball for Monday’s loss to the Philadelphia 76ers after he missed seven games with a calf injury.
He finished with 15 points and 11 assists in 26 minutes.
Ball has five double-doubles this season and is fourth in the NBA averaging 30.2 points. He’s attempting almost 13 threes a game, and also committing a career high 4.4 turnovers.
“I thought he looked good,” first-year Hornets coach Charles Lee said about Ball’s return. “He was engaged defensively and executing coverings pretty well. His on-ball defense was good. Offensively, we got to see some of his ability to make plays and create shots for himself and his teammates. I know he’s just going to get better and better.”
Just when the Hornets finally assembled their projected starting five for the season when Ball returned, they lost starter and second-leading scorer Brandon Miller (21.5 points per game) to a sprained ankle against the Sixers. His status for Thursday night wasn’t immediately clear.
After a dismal 15-win campaign a season ago, Washington has lost 19 of its past 20 and is on pace for just 11 wins. Not much was expected from the Wizards, who are in another full-on rebuild, but coach Brian Keefe remains positive.
“We have a group that wants to get better,” said Keefe after the Wizards lost 112-98 to the Boston Celtics Sunday. “We are getting closer. Two games in a row, we have shown good stretches. We can do it longer. We have to do it better and we have a couple of days of practice here to get better.”
Wizards guard Jordan Poole has taken 80 shots over the past five games and is the team’s leading scorer at 20.3. Second-year starter Bilal Coulibaly appears to have shaken off a recent shooting slump and scored 63 points in his past three games.
Alex Sarr, the No. 2 overall pick in this year’s draft, has back-to-back games with 14 points, three points higher than his season average.
Washington is still without Kyle Kuzma, who hasn’t played since Thanksgiving with a rib injury. There’s been some talk of Kuzma being on the trade block. Keefe said he won’t blame injuries for one of his team’s performances.
“Never use the injury [excuse],” Keefe snapped. “We have guys who are capable of playing. We’re playing better basketball. We are playing more how we want to play, faster, getting up threes. Our defense is getting better. I think we’re turning in the right direction. We will welcome bodies because I want everyone to play, but we never use that here.”
The Wizards are giving up the most points a game in the NBA at 123, but the Hornets haven’t exactly been an offensive juggernaut — even with Ball’s production. Charlotte ranks 28th in the league scoring just 106.7 points and last in field goal percentage (42.9 percent). Washington ranks last in the NBA in rebounding and second-to-last in three-point percentage (31.4 percent).
–Field Level Media
